The influencer Taiwanese Pei-Yun Chung, known as the Brooklyn divaShe was jailed this week at Rikers Island prison, accused of leaving several upscale New York restaurants without paying her bills. She was released on $4,500 bail. This Wednesday, the influencer She was due to appear before a judge, but it was ultimately decided that she would first undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to ABC News. Since October, the content creator, who has 27,000 followers on Instagram, had been arrested seven times for leaving unpaid bills.

Marta Galceran holds a PhD in International Relations from UPF and is a senior researcher in the area of global cities at CIDOB. She speaks with ARA to assess the causes and consequences of Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral elections.

The victory of Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim candidate who identifies as a "socialist"—a taboo word in the United States—in the New York City mayoral election represents a true political earthquake for the country, with consequences that are still too early to fully grasp. On the one hand, it represents a victory for the most radical and nonconformist wing of the Democratic Party against the New York liberal establishment that had always dominated it. This election, like that of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a member of the House of Representatives in its day, deepens American political polarization, a scenario in which Donald Trump has already shown he is comfortable. But there is something very interesting about Mamdani's victory that will have to be followed closely. His campaign was not based on the so-called "culture war" but rather focused on people's basic needs, primarily housing and public transportation. That is why he defines himself as a "socialist democrat" and does not so much fit the profile of a progressive that the right tries to discredit with that adjective. wokeFocusing on people's real problems and running a dynamic, energetic, and even entertaining campaign has achieved what seemed impossible just a few months ago: Manhattan, home to some of the world's greatest fortunes, voted overwhelmingly for a "socialist" candidate. It also highlights that New York's problems are the same as those faced by any other metropolis in the world, including Barcelona: how to ensure that its inhabitants can live with dignity and are not forced out of cities that have increasingly become tourist attractions and hubs for real estate speculation.

Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral election has been the first setback in the Trump wave that swept the US presidential election a year ago. The panoramic photo It shows a resounding victory for the Democratic candidate in virtually the entire city. But if we zoom in on the different electoral districts, we can analyze the results in greater detail, taking into account the social profile of the residents.

Early this morning has brought us news from the United States that inspires hope: Trump has been defeated resoundingly in his city, New York, in the municipal elections. New Yorkers have elected as mayor a candidate from 34 years old, Muslim, born in Uganda and a socialist.

With his ideology, age, religion, and skin color, Zohran Mamdani embodies the idea of change in the face of Donald Trump. In his first victory speech in Brooklyn, he sought to reinforce this. "I am young, despite my efforts to make myself old," he said, eliciting laughter from the audience. "I am a Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And, most seriously, I don't intend to apologize for being so." For nearly 25 minutes, before a euphoric crowd, he combined a defiant tone with hope and irony.

A year after Kamala Harris's electoral defeat, which left the Democratic Party adrift, an opportunity seems to be emerging to regain its voice and mount a real opposition. Some of the primaries being held this Tuesday at the state and local levels across the country have become a testing ground where the party is trying to find the formula for facing next year's midterm elections. They have also brought to the surface the party's divisions in combating the rise of Donald Trump. increasingly thirsty for power

Twenty-five years after his debut as a novelist with Postcard from Krypton, Jordi Cabré (Barcelona, ​​1973) publishes the reflective and delicate You with the night (Proa, 2025). The book's starting point is the transformative weeks the author spent at the Ledig House residency in the fall of 2022. Cabré, who previously He has won awards such as the Sant Jordi (Make a wish; Univers, 2019) and the City of Palma (The sadness virus(Proa, 2006), this time draws on autofiction to convey to readers the uncertainties and certainties of a man approaching fifty four years after his separation.

On September 26, we saw its distinctive green marble again following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the UN General Assembly. Where was Netanyahu speaking from? Like any other building, the General Assembly is located somewhere specific, obviously. The complex is located on the seafront, in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, and occupies some seven hectares, including the Secretariat building (the famous 39-story tower we've seen in a thousand images), the General Assembly building, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, and the conference building. Despite being physically within the United States, these seven hectares are not subject to US jurisdiction: they have extraterritorial legal status. The UN's own statute applies there, and the diplomats working there enjoy immunity. Then there are the headquarters in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi, as well as the various agencies (for example, UNESCO in Paris). In any case, it's clear that the most symbolic body of the UN is the General Assembly. It is located in the same city that gave birth to one of its worst critics: US President Donald Trump.

The city wakes up. The sun filters through the avenues, between the tall skyscrapers that sculpt the city. It seems like everyone is asleep, but bodies are moving. Most have already left their homes to get to work. Little by little, the city gets moving and the cafes fill with people: there are those who buy and those who serve.

If it's a bit chilly and you're in good company, even better. You have to stand on the corner of Jones Street and West 4th Street, facing west, and ask a pedestrian to kneel down so you can find the right angle. And then you can play at imitating one of the most famous album covers in the history of music, that of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan From 1963, with the singer and Suze Rotolo embracing. Their relationship didn't end well, but the photo is beautiful. They look young and in love. And the record is a treasure. Some neighbors who live on the corner spend their time snooping around when tourists want to copy the photo. It seems that most of them are European, curiously..

An English proverb says that every cloud has a silver lining, and this is a beautiful definition of hope. When a bright spot opens in a dark political moment, it's worth celebrating. A successful shared leadership experience has both surprised and excited many people affected by so-called "democratic fatigue." On June 13, Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, Chief Financial Officer of the City of New York, announced a cross-endorsementMamdani asked his voters to vote for Lander as a second candidate, and Lander, in turn, did the same for Mamdani. The two were vying to win the Democratic Party nomination for mayor of New York, but their rivalry didn't prevent a close alliance. If one of them was eliminated, the other's votes would flow directly to the incumbent candidate, strengthening his position. Together, they were much stronger than apart: Lander brought political structure, his base in Brooklyn, and enormous experience; Mamdani ran a vibrant campaign among young people, immigrants, and progressive communities.

William Vickrey, Nobel Prize winner in economics in 1996, proposed tolling to control traffic congestion in the 1960s. He was a professor at Columbia University in New York and thought about easing access to Manhattan, with the bottlenecks represented by bridges and tunnels8. Between Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania (where I was a professor), the speaker was taking a long time to arrive and Vickrey stood up and, to entertain the audience, told us a story

In 1992, Barcelona achieved one of its primary objectives with the organization of the Olympic Games, which became known as "putting the city on the map." Indeed, after that event, the Catalan capital once again became a "point of attraction for outsiders" (to use the terms used before the war to promote tourism). Mayor Maragall, who chaired the Games' organizing committee, feared that the city would not have sufficient hotel supply to cope with the challenges. With his well-known stubbornness, a Hotel Plan was implemented in the late 1980s, which even included the allocation of public land for the construction and operation of establishments. The measure was strongly opposed by a lobby that would eventually become very powerful, the Hoteliers' Association, which believed it would generate excessive supply that would be impossible to offset by the then-subdued demand. For very different reasons, the neighborhood movement also spoke out against it, one of whose leaders stated in an assembly that "the next time Barcelona is proposed for an international event, we should say no." And this "no," explained journalist Maria Favà, "is the result of a feeling that is taking root in the most critical sectors of the city, who believe that because of the Games, they are selling us the city piecemeal, that a city is being built for us." yuppies from which the working classes are scared away."

Protests against Carlos Mazón for his handling of the DANA (National Anti-Drug Traffic Act), which caused 228 deaths in Valencia alone, have followed him to New York. A campaign against the Valencian president on a giant screen in Times Square has given him the welcome in the city, where he stopped as part of his official trip to the US to assess the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs. "We have 228 reasons for you not to come back," reads the message in Catalan that appears over an image of Mazón. It is a paid Compromís action to remind him of the "disastrous management" of the DANA six months ago.

The fatal helicopter crash in New York, in which a family from Barcelona died, has sparked reflection on the tragedy in various morning magazines. The jungle from TV3 reflected on grief at school when children are among the victims. The program contacted the psychologist Alba Alfageme to explain how trauma can be managed in these circumstances. While she was speaking via video call, the program's production team split the screen and, along with the expert, showed us a loop of images of the tragedy. The flying helicopter, the helicopter falling into the Hudson River from different points of view, a propeller crashing into the water beyond, the helicopter's legs sticking out of the river, the process of removing the cabin with a crane, the emergency crews carrying away a litter. And the scenes continued as they discussed the topic, as if what they were showing weren't particularly transcendent or painful. From a journalistic perspective, it's understandable that these images are required to provide an informative context for the news. But using them as decoration to liven up the screen is excessive. First, because this approach is inconsistent with the psychologist's story. While we're talking about how to approach a situation of this nature with sensitivity and responsibility, the television does the exact opposite: it dwells on the harshest aspects of the tragedy. Second, because by the simple logic of proximity, these images can be especially hurtful for families and people close to the victims. We viewers are very experienced in seeing terrible scenes on television, but when you are connected to the people affected, those images become especially traumatic. It's not that they shouldn't be broadcast, but it should be done with responsibility for information, and not for media appeal, which is the objective of the split screen. This device was originally an invention of private television stations. It's very useful for capturing the viewer's attention with just a glance, without having to listen to what the presenters are saying or even having to make the effort to understand what they're talking about. When the scenes are tragic, they even distract from the story, causing a dissociation from the message. Broadcasting looped images of a tragedy or a violent event is an insensitive and morbid act of television viewing, and public television stations should be aware of this. Before imitating the devices of commercial networks, it's worth reflecting on their meaning and why. And consider, in each case, whether it's appropriate or not, rather than turning it into a television inertia. If, as journalism professionals, there's a concern about how grief and trauma are managed, perhaps the same sensitivity needs to be applied.

New York Helicopter Charter, the company that operated the helicopter tour that killed five members of a Catalan family and the pilot after the plane crashed into the Hudson River, is at the center of the investigation that has been launched following the tragedy. The company has a long history of flying tours around New York City, some of which have suffered safety issues. The company's chief executive, Michael Roth, said in the statement:New York Timesthat he doesn't know what happened to the helicopter, a device he had rented from a Louisiana company. However, the same American newspaper points out in an article This is not the first time that helicopters operated by New York Helicopter Charter have failed in the last twelve years.

When, at the age of 21, Xavier Bosch (Barcelona, ​​​​1967) visited New York City for the first time, the impression was so strong that three decades later he needed to return to write it, but from the point of view of a young aspiring publicist, Edda Leveroni. The girl stars Diagonal Manhattan, I return to the Writer and Journalist's Column after a brief hiatus in Universe. If March 32 (2023) focused on "the dangers of political propaganda" and had previously delved into the lights and shadows of journalism, here "closes the tableau on communication" focusing on its "most luminous branch, advertising." And he does so based on the story of a young woman who makes her way to the United States – and who learns to love – while her father tries to resolve several crises he has at the advertising agency he founded in Barcelona.